weaving

Chapter 1336 Shengjing Evening Festival

In the 19th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, the "Shenyang Road" of the Yuan Dynasty was changed to "Shenyang Zhongwei".

In the first year of the Tianqi reign, Nurhaci had already captured Shenyang Zhongwei. It was not until the fifth year of the Tianqi reign that he moved the capital from Liaoyang to Shenyang Zhongwei and began to build the imperial palace. In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne of the Khan and expanded the city of Shenyang on a large scale, gradually taking on its present appearance. In the seventh year of the Chongzhen reign, Huang Taiji even respected Shenyang as "Tianjuan Shengjing", so it was renamed "Shenyang City".

The imperial palace in Shengjing City was very small and could not be compared with the imperial palace in the capital of Daming Dynasty. The scale of its harem was even smaller. Together with the Chongzheng Hall, which was not spectacular in itself, it was just a simple and complete building complex.

Not to mention how it compares to the imperial palace in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, it is not even as good as the mansions of the meritorious officials and nobles in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and it is not even as magnificent as the mansions of the bureaucrats and landlords in the south of the Ming Dynasty!

Nurhaci's clan was originally a small branch of the Left Guard among the Three Guards of Jianzhou in the Ming Dynasty. Its power was not strong. Although its ancestors had been awarded the title of commander-in-chief, they had always been dependent on the powerful chiefs of Jianzhou and barely maintained the reproduction of the tribe.

It has only been nearly thirty years since both his grandfather and father were killed and Nurhaci, a loyal general of the Ming Dynasty, issued the "Seven Great Grievances".

Even if we count from the time the Tartar leader moved the capital from Liaoyang to Shenyang and renamed it Shengjing, it has only been seventeen years.

The simplicity of the palace architecture best reflects the cultural heritage of a nation. The Qing Dynasty started out as a fishing and hunting nation, but it has only been a few decades since then. While invading and encroaching on the Ming Dynasty, they have also been learning and imitating everything about the Ming Dynasty.

Everything including palace architecture, government rules and regulations, etc. - were all imitated from the Ming Dynasty!

At first, the Tatars did not understand that this large complex of buildings should be called a royal palace or an imperial palace. They simply thought that the place for managing state affairs and ruling the people was called a "yamen."

Although this huge complex of buildings occupies a larger area and has greater power than the average state or county government offices, it is still a government office, so it is habitually called the "big government office."

It was not until Huang Taiji inherited the throne and began large-scale expansion of the Shengjing Palace that all the major buildings were given names under the influence of Han civil officials.

For example, the first gate was named "Daqing Gate", behind it was the "Chongzheng Hall" where political affairs were discussed, and the gate tower of the inner palace was named "Phoenix Tower", behind it was the bedroom of the Qing emperor and his concubines.

The main building facing north and south in the middle is called "Qingning Palace". This is where the Qing Emperor Huang Taiji and Empress Zhezhe lived.

The two palaces to the east of Qingning Palace are called Guanju Palace and Yongfu Palace, and to the west are Linzhi Palace and Yanqing Palace. These four palaces were home to Huang Taiji's four concubines, namely Concubine Zhuang of Yongfu Palace, Concubine Chen of Guansui Palace, Concubine Gui of Linzhi Palace, and Concubine Shu of Yanqing Palace.

As for the remaining so-called "concubines" and "concubines", they did not have their own independent palaces to live in. They all lived together in crowds.

Qingning Palace is also commonly known as the Central Palace. A large house on the east side alone occupies a quarter of the entire palace. This is where Huang Taiji and Zhezhe lived. The interior is divided into two rooms, front and back, each with a large kang.

The remaining three quarters of the area is used for worshiping gods.

The gate of Qingning Palace is located in the southeast corner. There are two large iron pots on the north and south sides, where pork is cooked all year round. Next to the big pots is a big kang.

According to Manchu customs, the deity's throne is on the west side, and the place where people sit is south as the top and north as the bottom.

There is a deer antler armchair on the south kang, which was prepared for the Qing Emperor Huang Taiji. The deer antler armchair on the north kang was prepared for the Empress Zhezhe. The big kang against the west wall was used for worshiping gods, and various ritual objects for worshiping gods were placed here.

On the gable, there is a not very large wooden board with a curtain made of yellow silk hanging on it, called the "God's Board". In front of it is a black lacquered chair with a backrest on the kang, on which sit two clothed puppets - it is said that they are specially invited Mongolian gods.

On the walls on both sides of the altar are hung colorful scrolls, with images of Sakyamuni, Manjusri Bodhisattva, Guanyin, the Seven Fairies, etc. Even the image of Emperor Wu Guan Yu with a ruddy face and squinting eyes is prominently displayed.

When not used for ancestor worship, the above scrolls of deities are rolled up and placed in yellow lacquered wooden tubes. On the wall hangs a divine arrow with the tip pointing downward and a strand of hemp hanging from the tail. On the other side hangs a yellow Korean cloth bag containing the divine rope.

Not far to the southeast of the Qingning Palace gate, there is a stone base. Whenever the day of offering sacrifices to heaven comes, a 13-foot-long sacred pole will be erected on it one day in advance, with a wooden bowl on the top of the pole.

There is no sacrifice to heaven today, so this stone pedestal stands empty, with no sacred pole erected on it!

………… The sun sets in the west, with only streaks of golden light shining through the edges of the roofs…

Many candles were lit in Qingning Palace. Some of the tallow candles were even as thick as a mallet and were painted red on the outside. The cigarette smoke and candle smoke mixed with the wood smoke under the stove and the steam rising from the big meat pot, making the atmosphere in Qingning Palace both hazy and solemn, and adding a touch of mystery.

The evening sacrifice should have started before sunset, but it was delayed a little today in order to wait for Huang Taiji to return from hunting.

The Emperor Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty knelt down and paid homage to the statue facing west. Then it was the turn of Empress Zhezhe to kneel down and pay homage to the statue. After they paid homage, they sat down in the deer antler armchairs on the big kang.

The five-year-old ninth prince, Aisin-Gioro Fulin, also appeared beside Empress Zhezhe. Although Fulin was Huang Taiji's ninth son, he was born to Concubine Zhuang of Yongfu Palace. In terms of noble status, he was second only to Haoge among all the princes.

At this time, the chief priest was seen leading people to carry two black pigs that were completely black without a single strand of hair, and they placed their heads to the west in front of the statue.

Next is the shaman's turn to appear. He first kneels down and offers wine toward the southwest, then combines two cups of wine into one. The official in charge of the feast holds the pig's ears, and the shaman pours the hot wine into the pig's ears.

At this moment, if the black pig shakes violently and howls loudly, it will be regarded as a good sign, which is called leading the sacrifice.

Afterwards, the cooking officer directed everyone to place the pig on the large tin-covered table in front of the stove, with its head facing west. He then brought in another black pig and cooked it the same way.

Next, it’s time for the Shaman to appear again…

He was seen wearing a divine hat with feathers of various colors on his head and a bell tied around his waist. He jumped out, shaking his head and twisting his waist, and beating a leather drum in his hands. As the bells and drums sounded, the shaman chanted the blessing words while dancing:

"Son of Heaven, God of Yearning, Anchun Ayala, Murimuli, Hanadandaihun, Narhunxuanchu, Enduli Senggu, Baimanzhangjing, Nadanweihuli, Endumengole, Katunnuoyan..."

When the shaman chanted to the crucial part, he became even more crazy. The faster he chanted, the harder he jumped, and the more urgent the sound of bells and drums became.

After a while, when the chanting was about to end, the shaman in charge was already in a state of daze and drunk, as if the "god" had descended upon her.

Her body was seen staggering backwards continuously, as if her center of gravity was unstable and she was about to fall backwards. Two palace maids rushed forward to support her from both sides, and helped her sit on a chair prepared beside them.

As soon as Si Zhu Shaman sat down in her seat, she suddenly became quiet, with her eyes closed and her breath held. It seemed that she had really consumed a lot of physical energy just now.

The maids beside her were quietly removing the leather drum, god hat, waist bell and other items from her body...

After a while, the shaman opened her eyes again. She looked very surprised, as if she had just woken up from a dream. She quickly stood up and kowtowed to the gods, then kowtowed to Huang Taiji and Empress Zhezhe, and finally retreated respectfully.

Huang Taiji and Empress Zhezhe first followed the shaman to pay respects to the gods, and then ordered people to inform the princes, dukes, beile, and beizi who were waiting outside to come in.

Those who were able to stay and attend the evening sacrifice tonight were all people of higher status among the nobles. They entered one after another in order, first paid homage to the gods, and then to Huang Taiji and Queen Zhezhe.

The imperial guards gave each of them a felt mat. After they spread it out on the ground and sat down, the guards placed a plate of white meat, a glass of wine, a bowl of meat soup, and a bowl of white rice in front of each of them.

Rice cannot be grown in Liaodong yet. The white rice they eat today is tribute from Korea to the Qing Dynasty, but it is very rare.

…………

After the evening sacrifice, all the kings and beiles thanked the emperor and left, except Prince Heshuo Su Haoge, who was kept by Huang Taiji!